Andy Clyde: From Mack Sennett to The Real McCoys

Today is the birthday of Andy Clyde (1892-1967).

Best known to modern audiences from roles on Lassie and The Real McCoys, Clyde was a second general Scottish actor (his father was actor/ manager John Clyde). He came to the U.S. in 1921 to be a comedian with Mack Sennett at the invitation of his friend Jimmy Finlayson.

With Harry Langdon in “His New Mamma” (1924)

He became best known for playing crusty, rural old men (long before he actually was one), and had his own popular starring comedy short series with Sennett well into the era of talkies. (In fact he was one of Sennett’s last major stars).

With Daphne Pollard, circa 1930

When Sennett folded in 1934, Clyde went over to Columbia. He was also a character actor in feature films (notably as a sidekick to Hopalong Cassidy), and, as we said, a television actor.

with Hoppy

Here he is with Harry Gribbon in the 1932 Sennett comedy short Ghost Parade:

Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013).
He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.
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